The mainstream media is, in theory, there to report on stories so people know what is going on. They’re not supposed to take sides, simply share the fact so people can make up their own mind.

But they don’t.

Now, in fairness, it’s difficult for anyone to be completely unbiased in every interaction. People have opinions and those color their efforts. It’s not difficult to find the bias if you know how to look at even seemingly unbiased reports.

However, there’s no excuse for it when you make it to the national news level. For example, take ABC News and their report on the recent Florida parking lot shooting.

A lawyer for the family of a Florida man shot dead in a fight over a parking space said Tuesday that if authorities allow the gunman to go free based on the state’s controversial Stand Your Ground law they will be “sanctioning murder.”

The family of Markeis McGlockton spoke out during a press conference at a church in Clearwater, Florida, saying they want justice for their loved one and will not rest until the State Attorney files charges against the man who gunned him down.

“Any kind of law that allows one man to kill another man, and the man who pulled the trigger doesn’t even get fingerprinted … it needs to stop. Something needs to be done,” said McGlockton’s father, Michael McGlockton, wearing a white T-shirt bearing his son’s photo.

Markeis McGlockton, 28, was shot to death Thursday in front of his three young children after he came out of a Clearwater convenience store to find Michael Drejka, 47, verbally assaulting his girlfriend, Britney Jacobs, about parking in a handicap zone.

Surveillance video showed McGlockton getting between Drejka and Jacobs, and then pushing Drejka to the ground. The footage shows Drejka pulling a gun and firing as McGlockton appeared to be backing up, turning and retreating.

A wounded McGlockton stumbled back into the store and later died.

Note the bolded words. These are important here.

First, by saying Drejka “verbally assaulted” McGlockton’s girlfriend, they’re trying to make it like Drejka was already violent. Remember, we live in a world where people claim to feel unsafe because people might say mean things, so Drejka “verbally assaulting” the girlfriend can be interpreted by some as actual violence.

Let’s be clear. Drejka may well have been yelling at the woman. They were parked illegally and some of us get kind of sick of that kind of thing. Especially if you have disabled family members who have suffered because of crap like this, but some just get tired of people ignoring laws like this in general.

Next, the reporter adds their own interpretation of the video. Yes, it does appear that McGlockton was backing up. Some. Yes, he turned. A bit. That doesn’t necessarily mean he was retreating. Further, he already committed assault on an individual for the crime of speaking harshly to someone else. McGlockton also appeared to still be talking to Drejka.

In other words, the encounter wasn’t necessarily over, but using the word “retreating” implies that it was, that Drejka shot a man leaving the encounter. That isn’t clear at all.

Look, I’m not saying Drejka’s justified in this shoot. Frankly, my own opinion is that he’s a victim of only having one tool in the toolbox and now a man is dead because that’s all he had, but that’s also only based on my own view of the video.

What no one needs is the national media trying to gin up a virtual lynch mob against a man who was himself assaulted simply for taking issue with someone parked in a post for disabled people. That’s not even close to right, and ABC News should be ashamed of themselves.